//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Sketched to life // by Bookpony579 //------------------------------// As Luna and her group tried to fight of the monsters, Flash and Fluttershy rushed to get the teachers to safety. They were almost to the front door when another monster blocked their path. It was tall with orange, scaly skin, it's mouth a gaping black maw and black eyes that popped out from it's head. Fluttershy screamed and fired a blast of magic at it, but the creature waved it off as though it was just a fly. Flash looked around before spotting an open janitor's closet. He ran inside and grabbed the first thing he could: an old mop. The monster was now right in front of Fluttershy and was about to strike when Flash beat it with the mop handle, surprising it and making it stumble back a few feet. "Hurry! I'll keep you covered!" Nobody argued with him and Fluttershy got everyone out of the school as Flash went toe to toe with the monster. Back in Sunset's room, everybody felt like giving up. They had tried just about every solution they could think of. Their erasers did nothing, the paper was water resistant, fireproof, and when they tried to white it out with the solution Twilight had, the drawings seemed to phase through it. "I can't believe this is happening. It's all my fault!" Sunset despaired. "Now Sunset, you didn't mean for any of this to happen." Celestia tried to comfort her to no avail. Sunset stuck her hands in her jacket pockets, accidentally knocking out a few pieces of paper. Rarity picked them up before Sunset could stop her. "What are these..?" Rarity asked before actually reading what was on the paper. Her eyes went wide. "What in the world!?" Before Sunset could stop her, Rarity had already handed them to Celestia and Twilight, who were also shocked at what they saw. "Sunset where did you get these?" Twilight asked. "Trixie stuffed them in my locker ok?" Sunset knew by this point that if she tried to evade the question, they would eventually get the truth out of her anyway. "Sunset this is serious. Once this is over I'll deal with Trixie..."Celestia said sternly before Sunset cut her off. "What's the point? She's right. I haven't changed at all since the fall formal! I'm no better than these monsters! I'm such an idiot! And worst of all I've put everyone I care about in danger!" Sunset grabbed the book, ripped out a page and proceeded to tear it into tiny pieces. Fluttershy returned to find Flash still trying to beat the monster back with the mop. He continued to swing it until the creature managed to break it in half. "Aw crud.."Flash muttered before taking a punch in the gut that sent him flying into a wall. Fluttershy immediately ran up to help him. The monster approached the teens and just when it looked like all hope was lost....the monster poofed, turning into a pile of dust. They just sat there, stunned at what just happened. "What just happened?" Fluttershy managed to ask. Flash though for a quick moment before realizing the answer. "Sunset." Sunset was still breathing hard, calming down a little from her mini rampage just a moment before. No one said anything until a moment later when Twilight's phone rang. As she listened, she became surprised at what she heard. "What? Are you sure?" She looked at the pieces of the ripped drawing with new understanding before hanging up. "You aren't going to believe this, but when Sunset tore up her drawing, Flash said one of the monster's turned into dust!" The others were shocked by this revelation. "You mean..." Rarity said, catching on to what Twilight was implying. "How could I not have seen it earlier? It was so obvious!" Twilight pointed to the sketchbook. "We need to rip the drawing apart!" She grabbed the book but when she tried to tear one of the drawing, it wouldn't budge. "Huh?" Celestia and Rarity tried to rip and cut through them too, but it seemed the paper was now indestructible. "I don't understand! Sunset ripped one apart just a moment ago!" Rarity exclaimed. This caused Twilight to go wide eyed as she realized something. She took the book and handed back to Sunset. "Sunset...I think you need to be the one to do it." Sunset paused as she just processed what Twilight just said. "What?" "Stella sold the book to you, and you were the one who drew the monsters, so I think that means only you can destroy them." Sunset, after a moment of hesitation, took the book from Twilight. She grabbed a page to tear it, but stopped. She wanted to do it, her brain was telling her to do, but her muscles refused to cooperate. Come on...come on... Sunset mentally urged herself, but nothing happened. "I-I can't do it." "What do you mean? If this is some artistic attachment thing I can understand..."Rarity started before Sunset cut her off. "No! I want to do it! But now..." Sunset looked at the book in despair. What was going on with her? "Well, what was different before?" Twilight asked. "I don't know, I mean..I was mad but.." "That's it! You were angry when you made the drawings, right?" When Sunset nodded, Twilight continued. "I think the book must be feeding off your anger to make the monsters real, and you have to get mad again to destroy them!" Twilight concluded. "Well, what makes you mad then?" Rarity asked Sunset. She just shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, lots of stuff! I mean, I was mad about Trixie earlier, but now.." Sunset realized her anger at Trixie had vanished after she ripped the drawing, leaving a trail of sadness at her self-worth. Celestia though for a moment before speaking up. "I think the question we should be asking is: why were you mad when you made them?" Sunset though about this for a moment. "Well, there was Trixie, but also you guys.." Sunset said, starting to clench her fists. The other immediately remembered how Sunset had gotten upset when they asked about her family. "Sunset, does this have anything to do with your parents?" Rarity asked. "Or why you're living here instead of at home?" Twilight asked too. "I don't know!" Sunset could feel her rage returning with every question. She didn't want to admit it, but the others were insistent. "Sunset, I understand if you don't want to talk about this, but clearly it is having an affect on the situation." Celestia said. "I know I haven't seen them in a while, and they've never shown up to parent-teacher conferences or any other event, but you weren't like this before. I understand your parents aren't the most affectionate people, but what I don't understand is why are you so angry now when we bring them up?" This was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. "THEY ABANDONED ME ALRIGHT!?" Sunset screamed and began tearing through the drawings like a maniac, leaving nothing but tiny pieces. "JUST BEFORE I STARTED CHS, THEY DUMPED ME HERE AND TOLD ME THEY WERE GOING OUT OF TOWN TO 'SORT SOME THINGS OUT' AND THAT 'THEY WOULD BE BACK IN TWO WEEKS!' WELL, IT'S BEEN OVER TWO YEARS AND STILL NO SIGN OF THEM! NO CALLS, NO LETTERS, NO NOTHING! HOW COULD THEY JUST LEAVE THEIR ONLY KID AND NOT CHECK UP ON HER!? WHAT KIND OF SICKOS DO THAT!? WHO JUST LEAVES BEHIND A KID ABOUT TO START ONE OF THE BIGGEST MOMENT'S IN HER LIFE!? WHY DIDN'T THEY COME BACK!? WHY DIDN'T THEY CALL..." Sunset paused. All of her drawing now lay in pieces by her feet, like pieces of a puzzle too big to solve. Tears now ran down her cheeks as she asked softly: "Why didn't they want me?" Celestia sat Sunset down on the bed next to her and pulled her into a comforting hug as Sunset continued to sob. Twilight and Rarity, understanding they weren't needed right now, quickly backed out of the room to give them some privacy. Celestia ran a comforting hand over her back as Sunset continued. "What did I do? Was there something wrong with me? I know I messed up now...but I-I.." "Ssshhh, honey. There is nothing wrong with you. You just made some mistakes, but you learned from them. You are a smart, strong and beautiful girl and if they couldn't see that, then there is something wrong with them." Celestia said sincerely, her heart breaking for the poor girl. Sunset responded by burying her head into Celestia's shoulder and sobbed harder as Celestia continued to hold her. Back at CHS, the whole group was back together again...and backed up against a wall surrounded by various monsters. None of their magic worked and any 'weapons' they found didn't last long against them. Flash had told them that Twilight and the other's had found a solution, but now they were starting to doubt it. "What's keeping them!?" Rainbow asked. "Maybe one of the monsters got to them?" Fluttershy worried. Luna stood at the front, ready to protect her students to the bitter end. "I just want you to know whatever happens, I'm proud to have had you all as students." The monster closed in, but just before they could do anything, they all began turning to dust. One by one until finally the group was surrounded by nothing more than a large pile of dust. Everyone just blinked for a moment, until they sighed in relief. "They did it!" Applejack cheered. "Let's have a party!" Pinkie shouted, throwing confetti she got from..somewhere. "Before we do that, let's clean up this mess and check up with the others, alright?" Luna said. Everyone was just relieved that the crisis was over for now and that they could sleep safe tonight without creatures popping out of nowhere...at least for a while.